May 25, 2002	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12,1423

ISLAMABAD May 24: The negative agricultural growth last year was due to decrease in livestock and related sectors but the performance of cash crops of wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton remained at their best. All these crops posted a surplus against home needs.

This was stated by the officials of the ministry of food and agriculture and Pakistan Agricultural Research Council while responding to various queries made by the ad-hoc Public Accounts Committee with regard to the performance of agricultural research which was fraught with mismanagement and misuse of resources over the years.

The PAC, while reviewing the audit reports pertaining to the PARC for the year 1999-2000, found that a former chairman of the organisation had been involved in gross financial and management irregularities and had subsequently fled the country.

The committee was further informed that Pakistan, through a sustained research over the last two decades in the seeds multiplication and development, has attained surplus in all cash crops as a result of which disposing/export of over 2.5 million tons of surplus wheat and 1.5 million tons of rice had become a problem for the government.

The committee was informed that no effective internal control existed in the ministry of food and agriculture, resulting in cases of misuse of resources. Ignoring of laws and regulations and failure to attain objectives were also noticed during the test audit.

PARC officials submitted before the committee that except for a brief period when ex-chairman Anwar Khan was at the helm, the previous two decades of the PARC were of continuous success as a result of which autarky was achieved in wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton.

It was told that the per hector wheat production had been brought up to 60 maunds. Similarly, rice, which previously had a yield of 14-15 maunds per hector, was now being produced with a per hector yield of 90 maunds.

Same was the case with sugarcane which used to be produced only 35 to 40 maund per hector, is now produced at 2000 maund per hector per year.

The committee was further informed that the agricultural scientists had found that lack of sufficient irrigation water in recent years had become a blessing in disguise for the wheat produce.

Explaining, he said so far we were of the belief that single wheat crop needed 8 irrigations but shortage of water showed that four irrigations were not only sufficient but good for bumper crop.